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Londuin Elkhelm
Stormwindian |Row 2 title = Born |Row 2 info = 18 October, 598 K.C. 29 years old Southshore, Kingdom of Lordaeron ---- |Row 3 title = Titles |Row 3 info = His Grace, the Duke of Kingsmark Steward of the Brotherhood of the Horse Lord Marshal of the Stormwind Army ---- |Row 4 title = Affiliations |Row 4 info = Grand Alliance Duchy of Kingsmark Brotherhood of the Horse Stormwind Army Stormwind Royal Guard (former) ---- |Row 5 title = Relatives |Row 5 info = Sir Loras Elkhelm (Father) Emily Ashleaf (Mother) ---- |Row 6 title = Coat of Arms |Row 6 info = |Row 7 title = Beliefs |Row 7 info = Holy Light ---- |Row 9 info = |image = Londuin Second Portrait.jpg |caption = Londuin posing for a portrait with his sword after his initial appointment to the Royal Guard. ---- |imagewidth = 300 |Allegiance = House of Wrynn Grand Alliance ---- |Branch = Grand Alliance Army Stormwind Army Stormwind Royal Guard (former) ---- |Rank = Lord Marshal }} Duke Londuin Elkhelm '''is, among other titles, the Duke of Kingsmark and the Steward of the Brotherhood of the Horse. In addition to these, he is also an advising Lord Marshal of the Stormwind Army. Londuin is renowned as a swordsman and soldier. A reserved man with great depth of character, his proudly-held loyalty to the Crown of Stormwind and his honest commitment to his cause has earned him remarkably high rank and station for his age. Description Londuin is the quintessential knight. Tall-standing and valorous, every aspect of this man is limitless in grace and lordly ardor. Physically, he is the model of what most soldiers aspire to be: broad-shouldered, imposing, and dignified in his bearing. In further detail, his face is bold and fair, highlighted by sky blue eyes beneath a strong brow. Hair as black as midnight oil forms on his crown and jawline, thick and difficult to disturb from its rest. Although he lacks features that would outright define him as noble-blooded, to simply call him handsome would be a severe understatement. Biography '''Prelude - 597-605 K.C. Emily Ashleaf led a simple life before the First War. A devout Sister of the Holy Light, her greatest adventures were found in the libraries of Stormwind and the cathedral. Her noblest deeds were lighting candles in the evening, and sometimes tolling the bell to count the hours of the day as they passed. To the glancing eye, she was no more than a simple citizen, and in truth, that is precisely what she was. But even simple citizens had secrets. As a woman of staunch faith, it was supposed by others that she would never take a husband. She was dedicated to her duties, and was seen as a woman who was content to consider everyone to be her family. This was not truly the case, however, as she was, in secret, courting one of Stormwind’s finest knights--Sir Loras Elkhelm. Sir Loras was a champion of his order. A master of the sword and a confident man in the saddle, he was the antithesis of Emily’s meek nature: bold, chivalrous, courageous, and courtly. His story was littered with the great deeds expected of a knight, and he was considered to be a representation of all that Stormwind stood for. When the First War erupted and the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Azeroth were scattered to the north, Sir Loras and Emily remained faithfully by each other’s side as they fled from the danger of the Orcish Horde. Fearing for their future, they wed in secret with the help of one of Emily’s fellow clergymen, and conceived a child far from the eyes of others. There was only one other who knew the truth: Sir Adam Greenwood, a fellow knight and friend of Sir Loras, who had lost his left eye and part of his right hand to war. It was then the year 598 by reckoning of the King’s Calendar, and it was in that year that the son of Sir Loras and Emily was born. He was named Londuin, in honor of Anduin Lothar, born with his father’s black hair and his mother’s loving sapphire eyes. With the founding of the Alliance of Lordaeron, Sir Loras was duty-bound to assist in the reclamation of his homeland. Although reluctant, he became a Knight of the Silver Hand, and joined the forces going south to do battle with the Orcs that had destroyed the livelihood of so many. He entrusted the well-being of his new family to Sir Adam, who did not go with Sir Loras on account of his disabilities, in the event that he did not return from this march. This would be the last time Emily would see her husband, and he would not be seen again by anyone for many years to come. Sir Loras served alongside the Alliance of Lordaeron’s mighty host across numerous battlefields. From Khaz Modan to the Swamp of Sorrows, he led his fellow paladins to victory and glory in the name of Stormwind. Many tales are told today of his exploits during the Second War, and it is commonly accepted that most of Sir Loras’ extensive fame was born in those days. As the Alliance of Lordaeron found itself victorious, the people of Stormwind began to return home and rebuild their kingdom. The years that followed would leave many questions for Londuin to find answers for in his lifetime. Without a father to claim Londuin as his spawn, Emily was treated as an outcast by her colleagues and forced to leave the clergy. Unable to raise the child on her own while being seen as a bastard’s mother, Emily left her newborn son in the care of Sir Adam, who would go on to raise the boy as his own. Emily’s fate was left unknown, as she vanished without a trace some time after abandoning her child. Sir Loras had not returned to Stormwind in this time. From one war to the next, his duty kept him far from home and family, unaware of the ongoings involving his wife and newborn son. After the destruction of the Dark Portal, he remained to oversee the construction of Nethergarde Keep and defend Azeroth from any new threats that might rise in the south. For the next two years, secluded in Nethergarde, he pondered what he left behind, thinking every day of his beloved wife and son, whom he longed to see with all his heart. In the year 603 K.C., the Dark Portal reopened. Being at Nethergarde Keep meant Sir Loras was one of the first to see this, and for some months, faced the Orcs that came from the Dark Portal. Facing this familiar foe earned him the title ‘the Orcbane’ or simply ‘Orcbane’, honoring his habit of facing down and defeating the Orcs time and time again. When the time came, Sir Loras joined the First Alliance Expedition to Draenor and assisted in the erection and defense of Honor Hold, where he would remain with the Sons of Lothar until the days of the Burning Crusade. (A note regarding the circumstances of Londuin's birth: Though he was conceived, born, and raised in Lordaeron for the first couple of years of his life, his parents were both native Stormwindians, and all but those earliest years have been spent as a citizen of/in service to Stormwind. Londuin is therefore considered a native Stormwindian himself.) Page of the Brotherhood - 605-612 K.C. From an early age, Londuin knew that Sir Adam was not truly his father. Regardless of the fact, he saw the man as a father-figure all the same. From him, Londuin learned to read, write, count, add, subtract, and so on; he also learned the basics of swordplay and riding. It was a certainty from the day the boy was placed in his care that Sir Adam wanted to make the boy a knight, and that started with him being a Page. In his seventh year, Londuin underwent the officialities which precede any seeking to become a Knight of the Horse, and started on a path of unfailingly loyal service which he remains on to this day. Despite his handicaps, Sir Adam was an excellent teacher. When it came to the more physical aspects of training his Page, the aging knight did not show any signs of slowing, nor did he show any hindrance caused by the old wounds of his sword-hand and missing eye. In those years of relative peace, Londuin was trained for war, and in that time learned the ways of the Brotherhood as intimately as he knew how to live. The ways of knighthood became the air he breathed, the food he ate, the very sustenance of his life. The Brotherhood had become his purpose to be in the world. Londuin trained under the tutelage of Sir Adam until the year 612 K.C., the same year the Third War came to pass. Squire - 612-616 K.C. The year was 612 K.C., and Londuin had just graduated from the rank of Page to Squire. That same year, the Third War erupted in Lordaeron. To Londuin, it was only news from a distant part of the world he had never been to. For all his life, he had only known Stormwind, and the troubles of Stormwind were before his time. He may have been raised in the aftermath, but being so young, he could not comprehend the suffering that was still fresh in the minds of his superiors. Londuin’s ignorance of the world changed in 615 K.C., the year of the Stonemason Riots. The men whose blood and sweat had rebuilt the city around him was not repaid as it was promised to be, and the Stonemason’s Guild was up in arms. The consequential death of Queen Tiffin Ellerian-Wrynn wracked the young Squire, as well as his mentor, and the other knights around them. The death of the queen instilled in Londuin a great fury, but one that conflicted him greatly. The Stonemasons were citizens of the kingdom, undeniably wronged by the lords they served, but the blood of the queen was on their hands. Their crime was the ultimate treason, but had it been justified? This conflict of loyalty nearly tore the young Squire apart, and would have if not for the wisdom of his teacher. Aware of Londuin’s struggle to determine who was right and who was wrong, Sir Adam pulled him aside after a day of training and told him that the world had never been and never would be black and white. Good and evil can never be told apart for all to see, Sir Adam instructed, and at the end of the day, the only code that mattered was the code of honor. The senior knight told Londuin that so long as he did the honorable thing, his decisions would not be questioned. Londuin meditated on that knowledge and eventually found peace. His honor was in his service to Stormwind, and so it was Stormwind that he would serve. For another year, Londuin would remain a dutiful attendant to his knight, finally mastering all that which needed knowing in order to be called a knight himself. Early Knighthood - 616-619 K.C. The name Sir Londuin Elkhelm was entered into the annals of the Brotherhood of the Horse on October 18, 616 K.C., his eighteenth birthday. It was a day of pride and celebration for the young man, who had succeeded in following in his honored father’s footsteps. There had now been two Sir Elkhelms in the Brotherhood, father and son, and it was believed that the junior of the two would match or even surpass his father in noble doings. Early on in his apprenticeship, Londuin had shown promise. Now it was time for him to fulfill the great expectations of his peers. In the first year of his knighthood, Londuin was confronted with the challenges faced by the kingdom: the Stockades were in a state of open riot, the Defias Brotherhood was poaching travellers and traders on the roads as well as harassing farmers, and war with the New Horde was gaining momentum. The first of Sir Londuin’s exploits are recorded to have taken place in 617 K.C. against a formidable band of raiders. Considered to be the first test of his individual might, the young knight dared to face a group known as the Vile Vanguard, a gang of brigands and former soldiers, subservient to the Defias Brotherhood. The fresh-faced Knight of the Horse challenged the group’s leader, a disgraced and attainted knight by the name of Arn Thresher, to single combat. Londuin is said to have walked into the lair of the Vile Vanguard alone to face their leader, while other knights encircled their encampment in secret and prepared to apprehend the criminals. All witness reports conclude that Londuin bested Arn Thresher with a skillful riposte, which resulted in his blade piercing the fallen knight’s heart, after half a minute of combat. Once the duel ended and Arn Thresher lay dead, Londuin’s companions entered the camp and made quick work of their mission. No lives were lost that day besides the one slain foe, owed in no small part to the success of the Brotherhood’s most recent addition. His victory over the Vile Vanguard marked the beginning of a long career of similarly valorous deeds. Londuin continued to see service within the kingdom until the end of the First Defias Conflict. Once the conflict had reached its resolution, the young knight was shipped to Kalimdor to face threats far from home. Although he found himself in a completely unfamiliar land, Londuin thrived during his time at the frontline alongside the newest allies of the Grand Alliance, battling the Horde across the continent, but most notably as a defender of Northwatch Hold. During the battles in the Barrens, Londuin saw regular combat against the war-bands of the Horde. It was here that he truly learned to fight with a variety of arms, often filling the roles of a footman as well as a knight. He also learned much about battlefield tactics and leadership in this time, as it became his responsibility to command mounted forays into Horde-controlled territory to engage in skirmishes with smaller forces and raid villages and farmland to further deter the onslaught of the Horde war machine. In this time, he also earned his moniker, “the Stalwart.” Londuin did not leave this post nor its vicinity until the reopening of the Dark Portal, which marked the beginning of the War in Outland. At this point, during the year 617 K.C., he was no longer considered a greenhorn. He had bloodied himself and his sword time and time again and proven himself as a capable warrior and leader. Unknown to him, it was now time to discover the answers to the questions born of his parents’ actions. The Burning Crusade - 617-619 K.C. After being recalled from Northwatch Keep, Londuin immediately found himself at the threshold of another world. The state of Azeroth was shifting rapidly, with new allies joining either of the planet’s two dominant warring factions. Now at the foot of the Dark Portal, alongside joint forces of both the Alliance and the Horde, Londuin crossed into the shattered world of Draenor, now known as Outland. For most of his deployment, which spanned the whole length of the expedition, Londuin found himself at Honor Hold, the de facto home of the Sons of Lothar. It was there that Londuin found his long-lost, thought-dead father, Sir Loras Elkhelm, the Orcbane. Father and son fought side-by-side for the first time, battling the Fel Horde of Hellfire Citadel as well as skirmishing with the armies of the New Horde in Hellfire Peninsula. In one such battle with the New Horde, Sir Loras unfortunately met his end. Slain by a Forsaken’s black-arrow through the visor of his helmet, the loss of his father was a crushing blow to Londuin, like a wound only just tended being forcibly ripped open once more. For a long while, until well after the War in Outland had ended, Londuin would suffer this wound, but it eventually healed--even if it remains raw in the present day. Without his father to guide him further, Londuin was required to find his own footing in the world once more. With the War in Outland at its end, that being ambiguously in the respectively late and early months of the years 617 and 618 K.C., he returned to the kingdom for a length of much-needed and deserved leave. However, this was a time which he spent honing himself and his skills rather than taking respite: along with training new Pages and Squires, Londuin spent as much time learning from the experiences of his peers. Those months in the year 618 K.C. were ones of unprecedented peace in Londuin’s life. Though he spent most of his days training and preparing for what was yet to come, it was done in a place of safety, among friends and familiar faces, and the knight benefited from this break greatly. War Against the Lich King - 618-619 K.C. Unfortunately, such peace was not meant to last. The return of King Varian Wrynn did much to inspire Londuin to greatness, an inspiration which would serve him well during the Northrend Campaign. Sir Londuin’s status as a seasoned veteran saw him attached to the Seventh Legion and Valiance Expedition in response to the Lich King’s assaults on the domains of the living. Londuin first saw combat in Northrend with the establishment of an Alliance foothold on the western coast of the continent, namely Valiance Keep, where he and other soldiers of the fleet fought for and claimed the beachhead against the forces of the Nerubian Empire. Once the Alliance was established in the Borean Tundra, Londuin was moved to Fordragon Hold in Dragonblight to take part in the forthcoming Battle of Angrathar. Under the command of Highlord Bolvar Fordragon, Sir Londuin entered the fray and was one of the few to return from it following the treachery of Grand Apothecary Putress. After the defeat at the Wrathgate, Londuin was moved once again, this time for the sake of recovery, with a change in scenery and pace. Now at Westguard Keep in the Howling Fjord, the knight was held in reserve while he recovered from what had so far been the worst defeat of the campaign. In this time, Londuin got to know his comrades rather well, and he did not let his aching body keep him from horseback whenever he could manage it. While he commisserated with his fellow knights and soldiers, Londuin learned of some of their suspicions of one of their executive officers. Deciding it was worthy of investigation, Londuin pursued the matter further on his own, seeking to find out more about the officer in question--only to learn that they were a complete stranger to all who had come with the fleet. The officer in question, a Knight-Lieutenant of the Stormwind Army by the name of Sir Arnold Hayhurst, had raised suspicions over himself by being a wanderer of the keep’s fortifications. Rather than be found attending his duties, he was more like to be found circling the walls with his attention pointed up at the battlements, counting. This, as well as the man’s lack of both squire and mount, prompted Londuin to investigate further by asking the suspect aside and reminiscing about Stormwind City. Londuin made mention of the bridge between the Mage Quarter and the Dwarven District, explaining how he had shared his first kiss there as a squire. Hayhurst gave himself away by acknowledging the bridge, which does not and has never existed. Londuin explained the man’s fault, which subsequently led to conflict, initiated when the impostor officer drew his weapon and declared himself for the Cult of the Damned. The fight ended quickly, as Sir Londuin was the superior swordsman by miles, and resulted in the cultist’s arrest. For his service in this regard, Sir Londuin was awarded his first formal promotion. With his elevation to Knight-Lieutenant, wherein he replaced the now-detained infiltrator and filled his role, he was given his first command in the form of a company of Brotherhood Knights, some of whom he knew. Their first assignment, however, was not the battle they were eager for: instead, they were going to a tournament. With the establishment of the Argent Tournament in January of 619 K.C., many knights of Stormwind were called and volunteered to participate. Pouncing the chance to partake in a chivalric tournament (or at least a mockery of one), Londuin quite literally shoved his way onto the roster of participating warriors. Performing in both jousts and melee, the newly-ranked Knight-Lieutenant put to rest any remaining doubts of his prowess, finishing highly in each bracket of competition as a champion of his kingdom. As was the purpose of the tournament, Londuin found himself selected for the Siege of Icecrown Citadel. Standing under the united banners of the Alliance and Argent Crusade, Londuin sallied forth as a member of the breaching vanguard; those who saw him may recall the glorious sight of his shield raised high as he waded valiantly through the scores of Scourge faced by those forces. Following the ultimate victory of the Northrend Campaign, Sir Londuin returned to Stormwind for another peaceable break. Much like the first, he spent much of his time keeping his mind and body prepared for whatever conflict was next. During this time, there was no shortage of work to be done, much of it assigned to Stormwind’s armies. The Cataclysm - 620-622 K.C. Once again, the brief peace earned by Sir Londuin was not meant to last. With the emergence of Deathwing, his attack on Stormwind, and the shattering of many of Azeroth’s lands, Londuin was once more called into service. For much of the first year of the Cataclysm, Sir Londuin’s efforts were devoted to relieving those Alliance territories most badly affected by Deathwing’s arrival. From Stormwind to Khaz Modan to even Darkshore, his hands were set to collecting debris and freeing those trapped beneath it, as well as tending the wounded where necessary. In that year, the knight developed a deep appreciation for the peoples of the Alliance; seeing them unite in such a way so as to help one another was something almost too good for the world, but it warmed his heart all the same, and settled as a deep-rooted fondness for all good folk. Inevitably, Sir Londuin and his company of knights were once again recalled to Stormwind, only to be sent to another part of the world to combat a foe even more dangerous than the Horde (though the latter he saw plenty of as well). In the highlands of Khaz Modan, Sir Londuin battled the Horde for dominance of the region, as well as the right to put down the Twilight Cult before its plans could be enacted on Azeroth. In the Twilight Highlands, as they came to be known, Londuin lived up to his stalwart moniker. Just as he had at Northwatch Hold in his youth, just as he had at Honor Hold in the following years, he was counted among Stormwind’s staunchest defiers of all manner of threat and danger. It was during this time that Londuin truly won renown, as many heroes of the First and Second Wars did--as his father did. Following the defeat of Deathwing, Londuin was recalled once more from his standing post--for once not for respite, but rather in preparation of another war with the Horde. War in Pandaria - 622-624 K.C. In Londuin’s mind, the discovery of Pandaria by both the Alliance and the Horde would have led to conflict on its own, but the uncertain fate of the Crown Prince put the two at odds even moreso than they would have been without. Regardless of cause and reason, as any Knight of the Brotherhood would be, Londuin eagerly answered the call. The first time Londuin set foot on Pandaria was during King Varian’s invasion, dubbed Operation: Shieldwall. Much like in Northrend, Londuin fought on and secured the beachhead of a strange land, though this one seemed even stranger somehow. With the establishment of Lion’s Landing, Londuin was quick to learn the lay of the land, and quicker to become a leader on its battlefields. For this, Londuin was elevated to the rank of Knight-Captain, and given command of a company consisting of both knights and footmen. In September of the next year, that being 623 K.C., the Siege of Orgrimmar was in its final stages of preparation. A naval invasion and subsequent siege of the Horde’s iconic capital, in tandem with the Darkspear Revolution, loomed on the horizon. Eager and ready, Londuin and his company shipped from Lion’s Landing, and impetuously followed their King onto the battlefield. During the Siege of Orgrimmar, Londuin distinguished himself yet again by taking command of a pikeman squad whose sergeant had been slain, leaving the squad itself leaderless and abandoned to danger. Appointing one of his own lieutenants to command of their company, Londuin left the sides of his men and took up arms with the squad, whose size was no more than thirteen, not counting Londuin himself. Quick to rally and inspire the squad, Sir Londuin led the pikemen in an ambitious maneuver to surprise and overwhelm the True Horde defenders. The courage of these men was rewarded with success as they broke past enemy lines and began to sabotage and destroy critical defenses and fortifications, paving the Alliance’s path to the gates of Orgrimmar. For his excellent leadership and command in the face of this adversity, Londuin was highly awarded. With the True Horde dismantled, the New Horde once again filled its place, and both the Alliance and Horde entered an uneasy peace. Wary of this armistice, Londuin refused to put his sword down for good, and remained in service to his King. Iron Horde Invasion - 624-625 K.C. (WIP)Category:Characters Category:Human Category:Stormwindian Category:Stormwind Royal Guard Category:Brotherhood of the Horse Category:Order of the Lion Category:Soldiers Category:Knights Category:Army Officers Category:Stormwind Awards and Honours Committee